Polpette, or meatballs, are essential comfort food in Italy. Each Italian family has its own trusted recipe, passed on generation-to-generation with specific instructions, such as the choice of meat combinations, the use of soaked bread or bread crumbs in the dough, and the cooking method used to brown the meatballs.
And for Chef Joey Maggiore, it was no different. That’s why he decided to make his father Tomaso’s meatball recipe – already a favorite in Arizona for 40 years – into a keystone of the menu at The Sicilian Butcher, his very own chain of restaurants in Phoenix. His father Tomaso’s recipe includes three types of meat – beef, veal, and pork – and other unusual ingredients like raisins, pine nuts, sharp provolone, and parmesan cheese.
Following in the footsteps of his father, a famed restaurateur, Joey Maggiore decided to open his own meatball and pasta restaurant. While coming up with the menu, Maggiore decided to incorporate other dishes from his childhood. “The inspiration comes from my summers in Sicily as a little boy and, as any American Italian, spaghetti and meatballs was something I had in my heart, ” he explains. He expanded the concept, offering a wide variety of meatball flavor combinations – from veal and porcini mushrooms or shrimp scampi to a vegetarian eggplant-parmesan ball. Among the most popular, in addition to Maggiore’s signature Tomaso’s Famous Sicilian Meatballs, are dishes like Uncle Arthur’s Sausage Meatballs and the chicken parm – all made in-house.
The menu allows guests to select their favorite meatball style and their preferred choice of sauce – ranging from the tried and true marinara to pesto trapanese (made with nuts) or an authentic “no cream” carbonara. Then the guest can also choose the “bottom” of their dish, referring to the selection of handmade pasta varieties and risotto. Meatballs can be served on top of the dish or on the side.
Pane cunzatu
Chef Joey’s Sicilian legacy shines through in his appetizers as well, allowing the guests to choose from cazzili (a traditional potato and mozzarella croquette), panelle (chickpea fritters), sfingione (mini brioches with caramelized onions, anchovy colatura, ricotta, and pecorino), roasted baby artichokes palermitana with ricotta and anchovies or the grilled octopus. “The octopus is braised for 3 hours and then char-grilled. It’s so tender that you don’t even need a knife,” noted Chef Joey. For their Sicilian Cassatina dessert, they use fresh ricotta that comes fresh from Sicily every week, along with semolina and other Italian products such as cheeses from Napoli and all the cured meats on their popular antipasti boards. “Our motto is: It tastes as if it was made over there, but we make it here,” he added.
The wine list also features a selection of Sicilian wines including classic Nero d’Avola, as well as bottles from his father’s vineyard in Sicily, such as the Luxus 5, Monte Olimpo red blend, which pairs very well with his signature meatballs: “The currant pine nuts in the meatballs bring out flavor of the wine.”
Muffaletta sandwich
In addition to locations in Phoenix and Chandler in Arizona, The Sicilian Butcher is opening a much anticipated third restaurant in Park West on September 15. All restaurants are operating following strict Covid-19 safety practices. At all their locations, The Sicilian Butcher offers outdoor dining on large patios, indoor dining at 50% capacity, and delivery services.